Governor proposes 'entrepreneur-in-residence' program

Friday

May 9, 2014 at 12:01 AMJul 22, 2014 at 7:54 AM

By Scott O'ConnellDaily News Staff

FRAMINGHAM - Gov. Deval Patrick and his secretary of housing and economic development on Thursday touted their new jobs bill that, among other things, will create an entrepreneur-in-residence program to help foreign students stay in the state if their budding companies are on track to create jobs.The new initiative, part of the "Act to Promote Growth and Opportunity" legislation that Patrick filed a month ago, is intended to help graduates stay in the country to develop their promising business plans. Eligible candidates would be able to work at a public college or university with funding assistance from the state, while building or launching their businesses.Housing and Economic Eevelopment Secretary Greg Bialecki, who joined Patrick at an editorial board meeting with the Daily News Thursday, said the approach is meant to capitalize on the tremendous recent growth and potential of start-ups in the state, which he and other officials believe will continue to be among the top drivers of employment."Not only are (these graduates in the program) not taking jobs away from local residents, they're creating jobs for them," he said.The Patrick administration's plan is to start with a pilot program of five or 10 entrepreneurs "with existing money right away," Bialecki said.The idea is in part a response to the cap on H-1B visas, which the federal government awards to skilled foreign workers, "but we're not doing this to challenge federal law," Bialecki said. "This is not for show, this is a real program."Like the H-1B visas, the entrepreneur-in-residence program will require participants to hold positions at their college or university that use their specific skills."It's not going to be pushing a broom," Bialecki said. "This will be real work, with real pay."But the real intent is for the graduates to spend much of their time developing their business ideas. Bialecki said the program would look for entrepreneurs who already have a solid business plan, have acquired some seed money, and in general have demonstrated the strong potential of their concept.The initiative is part of the Patrick administration's larger goal to promote what Bialecki called "the start-up culture" around the state."It doesn't have to be just a Boston and Cambridge phenomenon," he said, referring to those cities' reputation as leading incubators of high-tech start-ups and other up-and-coming small businesses.Bialecki said he was "excited," for instance, by the recent opening of Framingham State University's Entrepreneur Innovation Center, which provides space and other resources to small start-ups.Patrick's bill also aims to invest more money in job training, expand affordable housing in the state's "gateway cities," and offer tax credits to businesses in the high-tech sectors. Patrick and Bialecki touted the last proposal especially, which they said is intended to lend a hand to one of the state economy's most critical industries."We've got some strong economic indicators in the commonwealth," Patrick said. "We need to keep doing things to keep that edge. The ideas in this economic development bill are ideas that have to come to us from these economic sectors."Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW